Editor’s voice: The week’s channel chatter

Boy does summer go by fast. It seems like just yesterday I was clearing out the backyard in preparation for summer fun, and now we’re already getting ready for Labor Day Weekend – and all before I ever managed to buy myself a pair of summer sandals. Oh well.

The beginning to the end of summer could be something to pout about, but if you’re a channel innovator it’s actually something to celebrate. And that’s because it means we’re one step closer to the Channelnomics Innovations Awards, which will be held 29 November in New York City. The deadline for entries is today, so if you’re a channel partner, vendor or distributor with a channel innovation worth celebrating, here’s your chance.

Also not a cake walk is the dilemma CIOs face in the higher education market. This week, Channelnomics featured a two-part series on this vertical, with the first examining how CIOs are challenged to balance bringing innovation with ensuring cyber security for their college or university.

In part two of our higher education series, a solution provider specializing in this market broke down different business opportunities and why working with another competing company can be financially beneficial. Also key is how differing budgets seen in the higher ed system impacts how these customers spend money on technology.

More and more, channel partners are hearing that specializing is a great opportunity to differentiate and set your business up for the future. A look at the higher education high life is a great start to exploring what different verticals have to offer.

In addition, cloud player Rubrik knocked the competition for bringing “nothing new” and added a new player to its investor board in basketball superstar – and apparent venture capital investor – Kevin Durant. Check out our daily channel rundown from Wednesday for more on that.

Passing the ball to Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) now. We kicked off the week by placing Denzil Samuels, SVP of worldwide indirect sales, Enterprise Group at HPE, in the hot seat for our weekly Vendor Q&A Series. Samuels shared his own take on our channel questions, which included a grim forecast for channel partners selling only a box, storage device or point solution.

In much less grim, but not necessarily bright news, Richard Holway, the chairman of analysts at TechMarketView, has stated that HPE CEO Meg Whitman’s revelation that Uber approached her to be CEO is a “surprising” move, with many suspecting she won’t finish the year at the channel giant.

There’s much more to check out on the site, so be sure to have a look around for more great news and analysis I couldn’t fit in today’s column. You can also follow me on Twitter via @ScharHar to stay connected.

We welcome you to join the debate by getting in touch or letting us know what you think on Twitter: @Channelnomics. We’re always interested to hear what you have to say.